Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed dreams of high-speed rail to Savannah

Another decade, another dream

Mayor Kasim Reed of Atlanta speaking about infrastructure last year at the American Association of Port Authorities' communications convention at the Hyatt Regency Savannah. (Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News).

In the past several weeks, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has been floating a grand new vision for Georgia — connecting Atlanta and Savannah with high-speed rail.

“We can create a trail of prosperity between those two regions,” Reed said last week during a talk at the Commerce Club.

According to Reed, he started to focus on the idea after hearing the complaints of a server at one of his favorite restaurants that Atlanta was not close enough to the coast and the ocean.

But if Atlanta and Savannah were connected by a modern-day, high-speed train going an average of 200 miles an hour, the coast would be within a 75-minute ride from Atlanta.

Such a train would change the complexion of Georgia — from two Georgias with two different economies to a state with a transportation infrastructure that could help reinforce the notion of Georgia becoming “the logistics hub of the Western hemisphere” in the 21st Century.

“We stand here on the precipice of great things … We can’t be afraid of doing large things,” said Reed, who freely admitted that he’s been focusing on the basics of running a city.

The TGV train in France

Reed’s comments took me back to April, 1985. Then-Lt. Gov. Zell Miller was on a trade delegation to France to celebrate the inaugural Delta Air Lines flight to Paris.

During the trade mission of 150 Atlantans, Miller experienced the TGV, which stands for “Tres Grande Vitesse” or high-speed, from Paris to Lyon traveling at about 163 miles and hour.

“This is not an idle dream for Georgia,” Miller said during the ride. “It’s something that I’m interested in enough to pursue. It’s a fascinating concept for the future of Georgia, but I’m a practical and realistic politician.”

Also on that trip was then-Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young who shared the same vision.

“Some of us believe that TGV is very much needed in the United States,” Young said, “and I’d like the first TGV in the United States to be developed in Georgia.”

Despite being elected governor a few years later, Miller fell short of following through on the dream of bringing high-speed rail to Georgia.

After the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, metro Atlanta business leaders wanted to make sure the state’s economy would continue to prosper.

The Metro Atlanta Chamber joined forces with 14 other major metro chambers of commerce in six Southeastern states (Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) to promote a high-speed rail network for the region.

The Southeastern Economic Alliance was formed a dozen years ago, and it was politically well-received by several key leaders. Then-U.S. Rep. Johnny Isakson (now a U.S. senator) convened a high-speed rail summit in Atlanta in 2002 to focus on the idea.

“I’m very excited about it because it’s a project that could work,” Isakson said at the time. “The federal government could be a partner in providing capital funding to make it happen if the states can provide the money to operate the system.”

The co-chairman of the Southeastern Economic Alliance was Milton Jones, who was then the MidSouth president for Charlotte-based Bank of America.

“I love the idea of the Southeast corridor being the demonstration project,” Jones said at the time. “But we’ve got a lot of work to do before that can happen. It’s going to take a team effort across the Southeast.”

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much to show for those efforts.

Then our hopes were lifted again in 2009 when a newly-elected President Barack Obama got on board the high-speed rail movement.

On April 16, 2009, Obama announced a new vision for high-speed rail and intercity passenger rail in the United States.

“Imagine whisking through towns at speeds over 100 miles an hour, walking only a few steps to public transportation, and ending up just blocks from your destination. Imagine what a great project that would be to rebuild America.”

Designated high-speed rail corridors

But with the Great Recession and with only lukewarm support from state partners, the high-speed rail movement in the United States has been slow going.

Meanwhile, countries around the world continue to build out their high-speed rail networks — leaving the United States still in a catch-up mode.

But several high speed rail corridors in the United States have been designated, and Atlanta actually would fare quite well with proposed lines northeast to Charlotte and Virginia, southwest to New Orleans and southeast to Jacksonville. What’s missing is a northwest line connecting Atlanta with Chattanooga, Indianapolis and Chicago.

Surprisingly, the already-designated high-speed rail corridor from Atlanta to the coast currently is not designed to serve Savannah. Perhaps Reed, working with his Republican partner Gov. Nathan Deal, could convince U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to tweak that line so we could resurrect the modern day version of the Nancy Hanks.

“This is what I believe as a leader of the capital city,” Reed said. “I believe I can be helpful in achieving that vision. People in our community want a vision of what is next.”

Maria Saporta, editor, of the Saporta Report in Atlanta is a longtime Atlanta business, civic and urban affairs journalist who writes a weekly column and news stories for the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

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With the US currently borrowing two of every three dollars to fund our current spending this is a very unlikely possibility anytime in the next decade or two. Rail while nostalgic is a very expensive proposition. That why in the great recession many states backed away very quickly away from the president when he proposed it. Even if the federal government picked 100% of the construction cost. Maintenance ( trains and track) and operations (stations and personnel) would still be an enormous financial undertaking for the state. Even while dreaming of such a public project keep in mind Georgia does not have a good track record on supporting such projects. Want to build a bridge or road, they will line up behind you. Expecting you will help them when the time comes. Want any form of mass transportation outside of private industry. They will give you directions to Washington DC and wish you good luck.

I would go further: A regional high speed rail network connecting Savannah, Jacksonville, Atlanta and possibly Charleston, would be a boon to the entire coastal Southeast. Savannah would benefit greatly if people were able to work in Atlanta, and if the other cities were part of it, Jacksonville and Charleston. There are limited job opportunities in Savannah. A high speed rail connection that made commuting to Atlanta and elsewhere to work practical would be a phenomenal boon to Savannah. It would also greatly increase the value of Savannah's real estate.

Infrastructure spending is absolutely essential to increase the competitiveness of our nation in the global economy. Look at what China is doing in terms of infrastructure creation and improvement. To refuse to invest in and modernize our basic infrastructure now will cost us far more in the future in terms of being unable to compete and produce than it will in dollars to build it presently. We have to think big.

I would not share Marty's perspective of high speed rail as "nostalgic"; it is incredibly different than yesterday's rail or even today's Amtrac, which we used for a day trip to Charleston a few years back. The huge difference is speed of course, and it allows easy connection between distant city centers.

While cities in Europe are generally closer than in the US, the distances between cities in the region mentioned by minister are on the same scale or closer than high speed routes I've used in Spain, France, and Germany. Example nonstop Madrid-Barcelona 300+ miles in as little as 2-1/2 hours; 24 trains daily

Can't seem to even find a way to resurface I-16 from Savannah to Macon, and now the Big Think Tanks want to build a High Speed Rail? My father was forty years of age when Truman Parkway was started, he died at the age of eighty-four, and the 8.6 mile parkway is still not complete. You Dreamers are laying something on us alright, and it isn't train track. It's just more smoke aimed at the taxpayer's pocket! Granted one day this could happen, but unless you can find some more change in this country's worn out sofa, I don't see it happening.

I have wondered for many years why there is no longer passenger rail service between Savannah and Atlanta, high speed or not. To me it is money waiting to be made by both communities. Savannah is a tourist attraction, and the ocean is a natural draw for those who reside farther inland. Likewise, Atlanta hold numerous venues that would attract those of us from the coast. I questioned an Amtrak employee at the local station here in Savannah sometime ago as to why Amtrak was dragging its feet on such an endeavor. They said that with CSX owning much of the tracks and track beds for freight service between Savannah and Atlanta, they would not be so willing to tear out old track for new and improved passenger rated track due to the cost. Amtrak runs much of its passenger rail service up and down the east coast on track that is owned by CSX. It seems to me that the two could get together with the powers that be in Washington to build this connector between Savannah and Atlanta. Just this one connector would open up rail service to cities beyond Atlanta, and points beyond Savannah tying into the Atlantic Coast Corridor rail service between Miami and Boston (Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and Palmetto). It really doesn't have to be high speed right away, and would pay for itself in a few years. By then, revenues may have been built up enough to put in the high speed rail service, something similar to the Acela Express that now runs between Boston and Washington at about 163 mph.